The Industry of Goddess Warriors
By: Christina Hayes – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
I am feeling a need, a yearning, a longing to connect with this tribe we call Womanhood. I want to intertwine, to bond and to celebrate the feminine divine with like-minded women. For just a moment I wish to abandon the corporate structure and find a safe haven in the arms of Goddess goodness. And so I ventured into the great beyond, or what some call the internet.
This flame led me to page after page, per the spiritual guide we call Google, of retreats, revelations, journeys, and ashrams. “ Come and find the Goddess flame within you!” states Dashana of the Free Flowing Form Goddess instructional tribe. “ You will drum yourself to a higher consciousness” claims Winged Raven of the United Spirit flame keepers co-operative camp in Lorain Ohio.
Site after site illustrated young toned women in perfectly aligned and formed yoga poses that only a few blessed upon this planet can actually contort their bodies into. There were Women adorned with flowing sleeveless lavender shawls decorated with butterflies and dragonflies hugging other women of like attire. Each website I entered was a cookie-cutter version of the one I had just left. A rendition and intertwining of Woodstock, Dances with Wolves with a smidgen of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert.
Now, for those of you that are about to come through this computer to punch me in the throat for putting down those soul sisters, I ask you to please read further. I am here in peace. You see I too partook of the overindulgence of Patchouli, I grew more hair on my body than Chewbacca and adorned the finest organic hemp clothing I could muster on my meager income. I danced under the moon, the stars, naked, clothed in black, and I have zero regret or apologies and love that part of me, for it still exists. What I am suggesting is that our Goddess movement to find our power, our voice and our place on this planet as Women has gone from quest to trend. Yoga.
Let me use this as a prime example of my concern for our spiritual endeavors. Yoga was formed per the fertile ground of spirituality and is the backbone to a complete spiritually awakening construct. Yoga was never and has never been just about the physical act of performing the most accurate and cute downward dog. And yet the Yoga business is booming. BOOMING! With the average rate at a Yoga studio being $150 for 15 classes, Yoga pants and workout “outfits” ranging from $22 – $200, and every variation of the mat, belt, a bag to carry your mat…you get my point. Yoga, the spiritual practice of aligning to ones higher self is a mega-million dollar industry. Clearly this was not the intention of our great masters. It would cost a woman $1200, not including lodging or food or travel, to go to an Empowering Women’s Retreat to find her inner powerful Goddess. And time and time again these pages show imagery that does not represent Women. They represent a fragment of this lovely creature we call a Woman.
When I go onto a site that represents itself to be a “Rainbow” group, I expect to see a rainbow of Women represented. Every color, shape, size, belief, hairstyle, income and the alike. I am saddened that this is not what I see. I see the same trend that saw a few years back when Hinduism and Buddhism became a fad. The Shiva and Buddha could be found on everything!! Even shoes!! Having Shiva on your shoes, wearing Shiva on your feet, is so disrespectful to a culture that cleans their feet prior to entering a temple because the feet are dirty little creatures. But that was the trend. To wear prayer beads on your wrist yet never pray with them. To have a lotus tattoo and yet never sit and learn the Lotus Chant. Has this amazingly beautiful movement forward of discovery and personal power for Women ended up in the same corporate-like structure
As I have grown in my spiritual practice I have evolved into a woman that I am madly in love with, but one that does not feel represented within “my” community. I imagine that this is how every marginalized person feels. ( I use that term loosely, not to offend ) Where am I? You see, though I have been an Intuitive Reader for 30 years and Reiki Master for 15 years (and a pretty powerful Goddess alumni), I do not wear the ascribed free-flowing attire. I sit here typing today wearing my favorite Chanel lipstick, black pleather pants while clicking my flaming red nails upon each key. I have a yearning and a mad desire to connect with Women, and yet I do not understand why it should break me to do so. I think of all of the Women that will miss out on amazing opportunities because they do not have the money, or they too do not feel that sense of inclusion.
Women, I am not meaning to demean or minimize. I do however expect more from us. As a whole, we have been raped, beaten, ignored, hidden, minimalized and sexualized. The least we could do is truly support one another, see one another, reach out to each other. When you see a woman wearing an outfit you would not be caught dead in instead of saying something sassy to yourself or your friend, why not celebrate your sister by saying “You do you!!”. Look for those that don’t “look” like you. Celebrate our diversity.
What you wear, read, drink, eat or bath in does not make you a Goddess Warrior or Spiritual Woman. It is that which lies within our hearts and souls that connects us to the Divine Mother. It is how inclusive we are, how caring and kind we are and generous with Unconditional Love that pulls us closer into the realm of Spirit.
Christina Hayes is a witty and at times outspoken advocate for radical self-love. Christina began her journey into the realms of manifestation and self-realization nearly 30 years ago as an intuitive reader and Reiki practitioner. Christina continues her quest to be a beacon of light as a Reiki Master, public speaker and active vlogger.
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